Opinion

Community Columnist

Shift to cancer prevention

The incidence rate of breast cancer in the United States has risen precipitously over the past four decades. In 1975, the average American woman had a one in 11 chance of developing invasive breast cancer. Today, her risk stands at one in eight.

In 1991, 119 women died of breast cancer in the U.S. every day. Twenty years later, despite improved detection methods and targeted treatments, breast cancer continues to claim the lives of 110 American women daily.

Cancer is big business. From medical imaging to genetic testing, from cutting-edge surgical techniques to comprehensive oncology clinics, the quest for an ever-elusive "cure" is a money-maker that keeps medical industries booming.

The National Breast Cancer Coalition, a grass-roots advocacy organization, has set a deadline of Jan. 1, 2020, for ending breast cancer. Refreshingly, the coalition aims to end breast cancer by keeping it from developing in the first place, advocating a strategic plan that includes a potential vaccine and increased research on specific lifestyle interventions that prevent breast cancer.

The vast majority of breast cancers are not hereditary. A variety of environmental influences can alter DNA, resulting in the development of cancer even in the absence of a genetic tendency.

The standard American diet is one of the emerging risk factors for breast and other cancers. Long on shelf life and short on nutrients, it packs a potent punch of endocrine-disruptive chemicals that can wreak havoc in the body.

Every day, Americans ingest an astounding dose of estrogen-mimicking chemicals, unnecessary antibiotics and extraneous hormones through the very foods they eat. Milk and meat from cows treated with bovine growth hormones. Soup from cans lined with BPA. Fruits and vegetables sprayed with pesticides and wax.

Sugar, a favorite additive of the food industry, has long been known to feed cancer cells. High fructose corn syrup, a staple ingredient on packaged food labels, is frequently sourced from genetically modified corn, which recently has been linked in a study to increased rates of cancer in rats.

If the foods consumed by Americans can activate cancer, doesn't it stand to reason that changes in dietary practices could short-circuit it completely? Wouldn't it be prudent to thoroughly investigate this angle, to invest in research that harnesses the power of the fuel we put into our bodies to fight this illness?

I'm tired of pink ribbons and awareness and pinning a future on hope. I'm tired of hearing about the latest treatment options, each with its own set of debilitating side effects. I'm tired of waiting for a cure.

I want action. I want cancer to be eradicated, obliterated. I want my daughter to live in a world where cancer is not the cold prickle of fear on her neck but a boogeyman of a bygone era.

It's time to stop putting business before health. It's time to reassess our priorities, to focus our efforts on mitigating the environmental factors that promote the proliferation of cellular changes that can create cancer.

The proverbial ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Laura Schubert of New Berlin is a mother, teacher and two-time breast cancer survivor. Email ljschubert@aol.com